Heelys not always welcome in stores and schools

Wednesday

Feb 21, 2007 at 2:00 AM

Mike Williams will never forget the first time he saw them, in his Target store in Newburgh. They were in the electronics department. Then toys.

Then stationery, in a flash. One of them, gliding across the floor at the speed of a jog, slid right into a display. The 18-year-old sales associate was spooked. “I thought it was a new style of walking,” said Williams. And it was.

Alexa James

Mike Williams will never forget the first time he saw them, in his Target store in Newburgh.

They were in the electronics department. Then toys. Then stationery, in a flash.

One of them, gliding across the floor at the speed of a jog, slid right into a display.

The 18-year-old sales associate was spooked. "I thought it was a new style of walking," said Williams.

And it was.

Heelys, the sneakers with the wheels on the soles, have rolled into our cities and suburbs and country villages, transforming our apple-cheeked children into surreptitious freestylin' pedestrians. And now even the stores that sell them are wondering how to keep them in check.

Spawned in 1998 by a West Coast skate brat-turned mental health counselor-turned mid-life entrepreneur, Roger Adams' idea for sneaks with a "stealth, removable wheel in the heel" is now the signature of Heelys Inc., a Texas company worth more than $932 million on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The company's best customers have lately become moving targets within their communities, as an increasing number of stores, schools and churches post "No Heelys" signs at their entrances.

The Newburgh Mall did so this month. Marketing manager Katie Macri said there have been no reports of shoppers being run down by Heelers. "It's just that we've noticed a lot more kids rolling around on them," she said. "It's a safety issue." Virtually every school district has banned Heelys, along with grocery stores, Cub Scout packs, churches and any place where kids congregate.

To assuage the growing tension between the stores that sell Heelys and the customers who despise them, the Heelys' Web site includes a "common courtesy" section.

"We have a big advantage over other types of skate equipment because if you pull the wheel out, it's just a standard athletic shoe," said company President and CEO Mike Staffaroni. "Of course, we know that kids don't always use good judgement. Mine certainly don't."

Eight-year-old Jessica Hogan doesn't care what the rest of society thinks of her sneaks. She just knows it was worth behaving all year so Mom would buy her a pair (priced $59.99 to $99.99) for Christmas.

Hers are black with pink trim, and with a slight flick of the ankle, she can cruise around her Washingtonville elementary school parking lot, one foot gliding in front of the other. When it's time to head inside for class, she can pop off the wheels with a handheld tool, plug the holes and stroll around the building like the rest of the human race.

Mankind remains divided on the pros and cons of walking on two wheels. A Boston watchdog group called World Against Toys Causing Harm put Heelys on its annual "10 Worst Toys" list. Some doctors say they're hard on the shins and ankles or dangerous, like skateboarding or roller blading.

"Or ice-skating or anything," said Jessica's mom, Jennifer Hogan of Washingtonville. "In this day, when doctors are so against childhood obesity, this is an athletic thing for them."

The company says skaters and non-athletes take to "the sport" with ease. It even recruited a "Team Heelys," comprised of "Heelers" ages 8 to 22, who conduct public demonstrations.

"Even parents who were against it at first are getting into it because it's an outdoor activity," said mom Audrey Turner of the Town of Blooming Grove, whose kids, ages 10 and 7, have become adept at "Heeling."

"Kids play video games all day," she said. "Heelys get them outside."

Now if only they'd stay there. Heelers admit it's hard to resist those smooth indoor surfaces. So said 10-year-old Ashley Turner, circling her mom as she waited for coffee at Target's in-store Starbucks. If she can't Heel in the stores, what's the next best place to practice? Ashley looks up at her mom, who answers for her: "On Mommy's hardwood floors."

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